Deerfield pounds Jupiter 72-40 in 8A regional final

DEERFIELD BEACH – Terence Johnson and Javaris Jenkins didn't like the feeling of losing the Class 8A regional final to Spanish River last year so they made sure it didn't happen again.

Johnson scored 14 of his 16 in the first half, while Jenkins, added 13 of his 14 points in the first half as Deerfield Beach cruised to a 72-40 victory over visiting Jupiter in the Class 8A regional championship on Saturday night.

"This is one of the best feelings ever," said Johnson, one of four Bucks in double figures. "We started making threes and they couldn't do nothing after that. I got two more games left in my senior year and next week at this time I want to be holding up the state championship trophy. Every game for us is a statement game."

Marcus Owens scored 17 points and pulled down 8 rebounds, while Joshua Huntley added 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Bucks, who will play the winner of the Hagerty (Oviedo)/Wekiva (Apopka) in the state semifinal on March 1. It is the Bucks first trip to Lakeland since 1999 when it last won the state title.

Deerfield Beach (28-4) stretched the lead to 17-11 on a 3-pointer by Johnson and basket by Jenkins with 5:58 remaining in the first half. Mike Edgley and Evan Zabriski pulled the Warriors within 17-15, but the Jupiter (20-6) could get no closer. Zabriski led Jupiter with 10 points.

Deerfield Beach, ranked number two in the state in the Class 8A FABC-Source Hoops poll, opened up a 32-20 halftime lead as Johnson and Jenkins each hit two, 3-pointers as the Bucks went on a 12-0 run late in the first half.

Deerfield Beach coach Kenny Brown said the team was going to celebrate for 24 hours and go back to work on Monday.

"I knew the way we were playing we were going to stifle them on defense and make it hard for them to score," Brown said. "When we play this way defensively, we are hard to beat."